Murdered Memories
by Wickedchick825
Summary: Sadie Carter is the daughter of Chloe, but who her father is, nobody will speak of it. All she knows if that her mother was in love with Cal Vanduesen, but the pieces don't fit the puzzle. And the search for the answers, may come with murderous results.
1. Prologue

Authors Note: Yes, we all know what really happened to Cal and Chloe, but this mainly just to introduce my writing style and set things up a little ;)

Prologue: _Freedom, it felt as though the pain and suffering of this week had been lifted off her shoulders. The panic that had beaten rapidly in her heart was slowly beginning to lessen to a steady pulse. Chloe gazed deeply into Cal's eyes, those liquid, cerulean diamonds, knowing that he was the one she longed to be with forever and eternity. Salty tears of joy streamed down her face, her blond hair clinging to her face. "I thought you were dead." She choked out, hoping Cal would understand her words of rejoice. "I told you I'd come back, didn't I?" he flashed a smile, a reassurance that the time away not knowing how close death was lingering had shaken him as well. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close, still feeling her tremble from all that had occurred in such a short span of time. Together they had escaped death and its icy grip, knowing all too well what might have happened if he hadn't rescued her. "Chloe…" he started, his hands trembling as he embraced her, "Will you marry me?" _

"_Yes…yes!" she began to sob tears mixed with rejoice and sorrow. Rejoice that together they would forever be entwined in a relationship as strong as the moonlit tides. Sorrow that their friends, family, and those who grew with them and together blossomed into maturity, were now either floating in a watery grave or cursed with an even more horrendous fate. But none of that mattered, Cal was by her side and freed the cage bird that was her soul. Their lips locked, she embraced him and tried to think back to the pleasant times when none of this happened, when being naïve and trusting of others was the status quo. The first thing that appeared in her mind formed into a recollection of their third day on the island, when they sailed the lake waters hand in hand. He had almost fallen off the boat, twice, but when his hand curved around her waist, she felt as though she was tiptoeing on a floor made of cloud. Who says the man of your dreams has to be in your dreams?_

_Releasing their lips, a shiver chilled her spine, Chloe thought she heard a twig snap on the road ahead. Glancing upward, her blood turned cold and her body seemed to freeze in its place. Up ahead stood a lone figure, his icy gaze seemed to pierce her heart. His name was John Wakefield, the maniacal bastard who had taken everything she knew and loved and hung it up or slashed its appendages, watching the blood slowly drain with a quiet _drip drip drip_. He had taken away all of her childhood friends, one by one, acting as if it was just a day in the park. The image of Nikki flashed through her mind, the board knife piercing her chest and hearing the air escape her lungs, a hushed moan that sent shivers down her back._

"_Run!" Cal screamed in terror, leaping to his feet while she glanced around for a way to escape. They couldn't head up the road, Wakefield would be sure to find some way of stopping them. Behind them stood a bridge, so old she could hear it creak just from the gentle gushes of wind. Cal picked up his rifle and aimed at Wakefield, managing to shoot the ground beside him, a devilish grin spread across the murderer's grizzly face. "This way! Cal, this way!" she grabbed him by the hand and ran for the bridge, wincing at each and every moan of its iron frame. _

_Half-way down the bridge, there was a gate of all things, blocking entry to the other side. Chloe felt as though she was nothing more than a caged beast; freedom was just beyond the gate, but there was no way to avoid it. Cal began to scoot her forward, her eyes caught site of a way to get around by swinging her legs around the side and easing over slightly. "That's it, that's it. You're doing great." His confidence in her was apparent, but with each tick of the clock was another chance for Wakefield to end your life. _

"_Cal, please, come across! Take my hand!" He shook his head and glanced back at Wakefield, who confidently strode across the bridge, clutching the menacing board-knife in his hands. "Cal, please! Cal!" He looked her in the eye and silenced her, "Look at me…look at me." She gazed into his eyes and suddenly felt sheer panic wash over her, what was he doing? "I love you." Chloe reached out to grasp his shoulder, but he was already moving. "Cal? Cal! What are you doing? Cal, no!" Her pleas grew more desperate, her eyes brimmed with tears. "Come on you!" Cal had grasped the shotgun and looked as though he was going to use it as a club rather than what it was intended for. Wakefield just smirked and bashed the knife into her fiancé's temple, grabbing the gun and watching it slowly plummet into the dark, icy abyss.  
_

"_Cal! No! Please, don't hurt him!" Chloe tried to find a way to end this, but there was no use, Wakefield already had the upper hand. With one swift movement he grasped Cal by the scruff of his shirt and leaned him back over the edge of the rail, inching the board-knife closer and closer to his chest. "Cal!! No! Please, don't do this!" Chloe's screams and cries went unheard, she knew this was the end. A split second, the knife plunged into his chest, Chloe screamed in terror, "NO!!" But it was too late, blood was already dripping out of his mouth, he cocked his head to the side and whispered, "Chloe?"_

_Her legs began to give way beneath her, as if she didn't have the strength to go on anymore. Her heart felt like a black-hole, sucking away all hope and memories worth reliving. Her hands trembled as she steadied herself along the side of the bridge. Wakefield lifted up Cal and thrust him over the side of the bridge, watching him plummet to a watery grave. Chloe couldn't move, her body ached and her heart was shattered into bits of glass. _He's gone…he's gone. He loved me…_When her emerald eyes looked back and Wakefield, he nudged his head and almost seemed to be asking her, "Are you ready?"_

_A fire suddenly rose from the pits of her soul, it coursed through her veins and set her mind ablaze. She would not fall victim to him, she would show him that she would never let a scoundrel like him plunge his knife of horror and sorrow into her. Chloe suddenly knew what to do. "You can't have me." It felt as though the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders, that final release, the feeling of letting go. First her hands, then her midsection, then her legs, and suddenly, it was all freefall. _

_Though it only lasted a second or two, years flashed by, memories of joyous occasions whizzed by in a blur of color. One moment stuck out in particular; a baby girl swaddled in a cotton blanket, opening her eyes to her mother for the first time. Her heart nearly skipped a beat, that had been the most joyous occasion of her life. Just before she hit the water, she whispered to herself, "Goodbye, Sadie…" _


	2. Chapter 1: Let the Words Flow

Chapter 1:

"I don't see why you're making me go to therapy. I'm not a psychotic loon, I can fend for myself." Sadie Carter sat in the passenger seat of a beat-up Acura MDX, itching to turn around and go home. Her aunt, Cara, had insisted that this morning she needed to talk to a real doctor about her "issues."

"Sadie, you've been having these nightmares for nearly two weeks now, something is psychologically wrong with you." The teen sighed, brushing her honey-gold bangs out of her eyes, the typical sign to a parent that, "I hate this, I want to go home, so I'll just sulk until I get my way." Her light, hazel eyes casually glanced out the window, watching the houses and buildings pass by in a blur of light blues, grays, and the occasional white. There wasn't anything particularly interested to stare at, everything in Ridgetop was annoyingly plain that it almost made you sick. The only building in town that was even the slightest bit unusual was Tom's Voodoo Emporium in the downtown shopping center, but even that was mostly just a joke shop.

"Aunt Cara, I was four when it happened, there's nothing to talk about. I barely even remember anything before the age of six, can we just go?" A slight roll of the eyes, Cara wasn't about to give up that wasn't about to give up that easily. She herself remembered a time when defiance and rebellion burned bright in every teen heart and made you feel as though you were on top of the world. But sadly, those times were long gone, and that flame had dissipated within her into a tiny flicker in the darkness. "Look, I'm not saying you have to like this, I'm not even saying you have to take any of this doctor's advice. Just try and behave," her gaze turned off the road and toward Sadie, a slight look of sorrow gleaming in her eyes, "Please?" Sadie nudged her with her shoulder, letting a natural grin spread across her face, "Alright, but you owe me some chocolate and a Jodi Picoult novel when we get back home."

"Hello, you must be Sadie, correct?" It only took a moment for Sadie to figure out what this guy was talking about. She had only just swung open the door to his office when the mystery voice appeared out of the blue and startled her. The voice had come from a feeble, balding man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties. His face was dotted with fading freckles, she wondered if maybe they were really liver spots. _Why is he so eager to greet me? Does he not have any patients of his own? _A muffled sigh escaped her lips, she didn't want to seem like an emo teen who just sighed a lot and wanted to silence the world in a pool of blood. _Wow…I really do need help. _"Yes, my name's Sadie. My aunt recommended you; I need some, um…help."

"Yes, yes, Cara is her name, correct? She called me last week about you; I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival!" Sadie shifted her weight uncomfortably, trying to figure out what was going on inside this man's head. _Wow…this guy is one big stalker. And now I have to go and delve into my inner most secrets with him. Great, just great. _A quick glance around his office, it appear relatively normal; inspirational posters with fuzzy, baby animals, a coffee table flooded with outdated magazines, and a basket full of multi-colored, worn blocks and other child toys. _What kind of toddler comes to a psychiatric ward? _"So…do we just go into a room or just talk right here?" The gentleman let out a hearty laugh and said, "Of course we're doing this in private. Come on, follow me." He gestured to an olive green room at the end of the hall, she Sadie nodded and began to follow him. As they sauntered down the hallway, she turned back to Cara and mouthed, "Help me!" Her aunt stifled a chuckle and mouthed, "Fat chance…"

"Here, take a seat and just relax." Sadie had the option of a worn bean-bag chair or a emerald green couch seated in the far corner of the room. She plopped down on the couch, noting how much bounce was still in the springs. The doctor seated himself in an office chair behind a worn, oak desk scattered with papers and empty bags of Fritos corn-chips. As he wheel around, he asked, "I don't think I ever properly introduced myself. I'm Doctor Kelso, the lead psychiatrist here at this office. I've been working here for around fifteen years and my specialties include dreams and emotional trauma." Sadie just nodded her head and threw in the occasional "Uh-huh" or "Cool!" as he continued to blather on about god knows what. "Would you mind telling me a little about yourself?"

"Well, my name is Sadie Carter, I'm sixteen years old, and I attend Ridgetop High." She stopped there, hoping that would be enough. He kept an intense gaze on her, as if he was expecting her to delve into her inner most self within a matter of seconds. "What else do you want me to say?" Doctor Kelso leaned back in his chair, drumming his hands against the top of the desk. Maybe you could begin to tell me about those dreams of yours. When did they begin, and what do they involve?" Sadie shifted back and forth, this was the moment she had been dreading. Wringing her hands, she kept her eyes fixated on the ivory carpet and began her tale, "It all started around two weeks ago…"

_Chloe grasped her daughter's hand, whispering in her ear, "We have to flee now, he's after us. Come on!" The moon lazily drifted into the midnight sky, Chloe began to flee into the night while Sadie tried as best she could to hold on. "Momma, I can't keep up, my legs are getting tired!" Her mother just appeared to ignore her pleas, glancing around for the right way to turn in the never ending row of menacing looking trees. Suddenly, eerie voices began to whisper in the background "One by one…one by one…" Tears began to stream down Sadie's face, it felt as though the voices were pressing in on her frame. Coveing her ears she cried out, "Momma, make the bad noises go away!" But there was no reply but a blood curdling scream to silence the voices. "M-m-momma?" Her body quaked with fright, where had her mother vanished to? She took a step forward, but felt something prevent her motion. "MOMMA!" On the forest floor lay her mother's corpse, blood draining from her sides and forming a crimson pool. Before she could even lay a hand to see if her mother was even alive, her body began to sink into the pool of blood, from her toes all the way to her head, until nothing was left but a few stains of red. _

Doctor Kelso seemed to scribble down a few notes on the dream, making puzzled faces and scratching other notes out. "How old do you think you are in this dream?" "Four, the age when my mother died." She felt his hand on her shoulder, a worried look brimming in his eyes. As she glanced down, it was apparent that she was shaking violently and tears were streaming down her face. "I didn't mean to upset you Sadie, maybe we should stop for the day. We can-" "No, no, I'm fine. I can answer a few more questions." He nodded, adjusting his glasses and analyzing his notepad, "Well, if you don't mind my asking, how exactly did your mother die." Sadie breathed in deeply, why was it so hard to explain what really happened? "She-she was murdered, twelve years ago, on Harper's Island."


End file.
